Police examine officers' role in Kansas chase crash

BY STAN FINGER The Wichita Eagle

Wichita police are conducting an internal investigation into how a car chase early Sunday morning resulted in a crash that injured six people.

The chase began just before 1 a.m. Sunday when two officers pulled over a car near Central and Grove for driving erratically and at high speeds, Deputy Chief Tom Stolz said. The car sped away as officers approached and headed north on Grove.

The driver was going so fast that the vehicle went airborne as it crossed railroad tracks on Grove, Stolz said.

The car ran a red light at 13th and Grove and eventually crashed into a house as the driver tried to turn onto another street. The police car in pursuit hit another car coming through the intersection at 13th and Grove. Five people in the other car and the officer driving the patrol car were all taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, Stolz said.

The department's chase policy calls for police involved in a pursuit to slow down at a red light and proceed cautiously, he said.

The driver of the fleeing car was taken into custody and faces numerous traffic charges, Stolz said, but a passenger in the car fled and had not been apprehended as of late Monday.